MEASURING UP: NEW ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE PURDUE LIBRARIES

A few months ago I received a new title...and then another one. Both of them, however, have a common denominator — assessment. I thought I would take this opportunity to provide a brief overview of what that means, both in terms of specific projects and for the Libraries in a more general sense. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, library assessment is a set of activities that allow us to understand our impact upon institutional outcomes like student learning and research; that identify needs and levels of satisfaction; and that can be used to improve collections and services.

Library assessment, then, is a means for allowing us to make better decisions about directions for the library. By better understanding how the Libraries are performing and how the Libraries are meeting the needs of our users, and where there are opportunities to improve or meet previously unmet needs, assessment helps us to provide better customer service and develop improved strategies for meeting the needs of the Purdue community. It also allows us to strengthen the messages about the great things happening in the Purdue Libraries, and to better communicate them to the campus.

With the importance of assessment in mind, I’d like to highlight a few specific initiatives that are underway this year. First, we are in the early stages of re-evaluating how we gather usages statistics for library spaces with the goal of being able to gather more granular statistics about how various areas of the libraries are being used. Second, I am working with David Scherer and Lisa Zilinski on a project to develop more meaningful evaluations of e-Pubs and PURR than what we have now. Finally, Tao Zhang will continue to lead efforts to assess the effectiveness of our web interfaces with a particular emphasis on Primo and our link resolver.

If you have questions or, even better, ideas for assessment projects, please feel free to contact me at pbracke@purdue.edu or 49-63906.

GIS DAY @ PURDUE

Purdue University will host several events for “GIS Day at Purdue: Geospatial Data is Everywhere” on November 6.  GIS Day is a global celebration of geospatial research and GIS, which uses a collection of software applications, GPS receivers and data sensors to combine maps and statistical data in a digital mapping environment to answer research questions.

Activities including talks, demonstrations, graduate student presentations and a poster session will be held 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 306. The events are free and open to the public.

Matt Hutchinson, Research Scientist, Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT), Woolpert, Inc. will give the morning keynote address at 11 a.m. in Stewart Center, Room 302 on the topic of “Big Data GIS: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.” Randall Raymond, Geospatial Data Information Specialist, Office of Research, Evaluation, Assessment and Accountability, Retired, will present the afternoon keynote address at 2 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 302, “Pathways to GIS Careers: A bring your laptop, hands-on, ArcGIS Online Experience.”

Students and faculty will also learn more about the GIS resources (including software, servers, virtual and local classes) available to them at Purdue University. In addition, a hands-on ground penetrating radar demonstration will take place on the Purdue Mall.

The complete schedule for GIS Day is available at http://stemedhub.org/groups/2013gisday/college

GIS Day is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Research, College of Agriculture, College of Science, College of Education, College of Technology and Purdue University Libraries.

INFORMATION LITERACY RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM @ PURDUE

The Purdue University Libraries, Discovery Learning Research Center, and Center for Instructional Excellence presented the 5th Information Literacy Research Symposium with Dr. Mary Somerville, University Librarian at the Auraria Library, University of Colorado Denver on October 29.

Dr. Somerville’s presentation, “Toward Informed Learning in Professional Practice” focused on her research on informed learning. She explained how it builds on her experiences as a practitioner/researcher/leader. She reflected on her colleagues' engagement with informed learning and the implications of informed learning for academic curriculum design. The afternoon workshop designed an instructional activity and a cross-disciplinary project based on informed learning theory and principles.

Dr. Somerville is the University Librarian and Library Director at the Auraria Library, which serves the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and Community College of Denver. She is also Co-Director of the Center for Colorado & the West at Auraria Library. Previously, she served as Associate Dean of the joint academic-public Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library on the San José State University campus. Earlier, she was the Assistant Dean of Information and Instructional Services at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

Her leadership approach applies participatory co-design principles and professional practices to further information sharing and knowledge creation within the workplace. Over a decade of research has produced an Informed Systems Approach, which integrates informed learning, appreciative inquiry, action research, and shared leadership elements to catalyze and sustain organizational learning. Early results are reported in Working Together: Collaborative Information Practices for Organizational Learning, published in 2009 by the Association of College & Research Libraries.

LIBRARIES SEMINAR WITH DAVID WOODBURY

David Woodbury is the Director of Learning Commons Services for North Carolina State University Libraries where he manages specialized learning spaces including the Libraries’ Technology Sandbox and Digital Media Lab. He has worked on the planning of the public services for the James B. Hunt Jr. Library, which opened earlier this year. He served as the project leader of the NCSU Libraries Mobile site and is leading several technology initiatives including NCSU's technology lending program. Prior to NCSU, Woodbury was Project Manager of Bot 2.0, an NSF funded project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Metadata Research Center and the North Carolina Botanical Garden.

Woodbury spoke about his involvement in planning, equipment selection and services for the computing spaces of NCSU’s new Hunt Library (the two floors of common areas, media studios, and music rooms). He also introduced the high-end visualization spaces in Hunt Library, including the Teaching and Visualization Lab with 270 degree projection and Creativity Studio with lots of projection and movable walls.

Additional Information:
NCSU’s Hunt Library: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibrary
The online Learning Space Toolkit: http://learningspacetoolkit.org/

2013 OPEN ACCESS AWARDS

As part of Purdue University Libraries 2013 Open Access Week activities, Dr. Mark S. Lundstrom was presented with the Open Access (Research) Award by Dr. S. Laurel Weldon, Interim Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. Dr. Lindstrom is the Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN). The award is presented in recognition of Dr. Lundstrom’s leadership in creating NanoHUB, a radical departure from traditional forms of scholarly communication in nanotechnology with a strongly open access character. Annually, nearly 250,000 users in 172 countries access over 3,000 resources from more than 1,000 authors for research and education, including over 250 simulation tools.

An Open Access (Education) Award was also presented to Dr. Linda S. Bergmann by Dr. A. Dale Whittaker, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs. Dr. Bergmann is Director of the Online Writing Lab (OWL), which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2013. Now featuring over 300 reference and instructional materials, all made freely available online, OWL has established itself as one of the premier Open Educational Resources on the web.

For more information about Open Access at Purdue visit http://www.lib.purdue.edu/openaccess

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

A reception was held on October 17 to celebrate 100 years of Archives and Special Collections. Sammie Morris, University Archivist and Head, Archives and Special Collections Division talked about the growth and development of the collection. Libraries Dean Jim Mullins talked about the history of Libraries facilities and its future growth with the upcoming construction of the Active Learning Center.

The exhibit will be on display through December 19 on the fourth floor of the Humanities, Social Science, and Education Library (HSSE). Included in the exhibit are class notes from astronaut Neil Armstrong, Amelia Earhart's flight helmet, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoon created by alumnus John T. McCutcheon and a program documenting the short-lived Purdue Circus.

LIBRARIES STAFF A-Z